TY - JOUR
T1 - SARS-CoV-2 spread in Northern Italy: what about the pollution role?
AU - Sciomer, Susanna
AU - Moscucci, Federica
AU - Magrì, Damiano
AU - Badagliacca, Roberto
AU - Piccirillo, Gianfranco
AU - Agostoni, Piergiuseppe
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/5/1
Y1 - 2020/5/1
N2 - The recent epidemic of the new SARS-CoV-2 in the northern regions of Italy is putting the organization of the Italian health system under serious attack. The current emergency requires all possible efforts to stem the spread of the virus. In this context, it is clear that we have the urgent need to rely upon etiopathogenetic data, in order to do all possible efforts to block the epidemic. However, observing the trend of the infections in China and the geographic areas of the main outbreaks, it could be hypothesized that air pollution plays a role. In particular, it has been previously demonstrated, in specific populations, a role of particulate matter in worsening clinical presentation of virus infection in airways. Without prejudice to the ascertained virus spread by air droplets or contaminated surfaces, the factors that could have favored its spread remain to be investigated. Moreover, if these observations were to be confirmed, when the health emergency is resolved, it will be mandatory to redesign an economic-productive model in balance with the environment.
AB - The recent epidemic of the new SARS-CoV-2 in the northern regions of Italy is putting the organization of the Italian health system under serious attack. The current emergency requires all possible efforts to stem the spread of the virus. In this context, it is clear that we have the urgent need to rely upon etiopathogenetic data, in order to do all possible efforts to block the epidemic. However, observing the trend of the infections in China and the geographic areas of the main outbreaks, it could be hypothesized that air pollution plays a role. In particular, it has been previously demonstrated, in specific populations, a role of particulate matter in worsening clinical presentation of virus infection in airways. Without prejudice to the ascertained virus spread by air droplets or contaminated surfaces, the factors that could have favored its spread remain to be investigated. Moreover, if these observations were to be confirmed, when the health emergency is resolved, it will be mandatory to redesign an economic-productive model in balance with the environment.
KW - COVID-19
KW - PM-10
KW - PM-2.5
KW - Pollution
KW - SARS-CoV-2
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U2 - 10.1007/s10661-020-08317-y
DO - 10.1007/s10661-020-08317-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 32363409
AN - SCOPUS:85084115153
VL - 192
JO - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
JF - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
SN - 0167-6369
IS - 6
M1 - 325
ER -